For me fudge has always been a special thing that I generally associate with summer. Fudge was something we could only get on vacation or at the fair. As such I tend to consider it synonymous with good times. Fudge and good times go hand in hand so what better to give as a gift than fudge? Well, Tim and Liz Young are ready to help you give that gift with their new Flippin’ Fudge.

Tim contacted me a few weeks ago to introduce me to Flippin’ Fudge and ask if I wouldn’t like to try some. I do try to discourage people from sending me free chocolate (I know – it sounds crazy), but this is one product I decided (somewhat selfishly) that I wasn’t going to refuse. I’m glad I didn’t.

There are a couple of things that set Flippin’ Fudge apart from the traditional fudge and the first one is the packaging. The packaging is bright, colorful and fun. The box it arrives in has the logo on it and when you open it up you find that the fudge itself is swimming in a sea of lovely stringy colorful paper packing material. The colors for some reason remind me of a piñata, but I make strange associations all the time. Anyway, once you get inside the box-within-a-box you find neat little squares of fudge in attractive purple wrapping, all clearly labeled with the logo and the name of the flavor. From start to finish it’s all bright and colorful and, above all, fun.

The next thing that sets Flippin’ Fudge apart is the flavor variety. Some of the flavors are rather traditional fudge flavors (though all with a twist) and some would be perfectly at home in a truffle from a fine chocolatier. Here’s the rundown:

Dark Secret:
This helps to set a theme for the fudge to come. This is a dark chocolate fudge and breaking away from tradition it isn’t the super sweet affair your standard fudge tends to be. This is focused on the chocolate and is nicely dark and very chocolaty. The texture (which is pretty consistent across all the flavors) is thick and smooth. I’m a traditional grainy crumbly fudge person at heart but this is really nice too.

Skippy’s Surprise:
I expected this to be a standard peanut butter fudge and boy was I wrong. This is a big fat fudge sandwich with chocolate fudge as the bread and peanut butter fudge in the middle. I’ve always found peanut butter fudge by itself to be only worth a bite or two (just a question of taste – I don’t do peanut butter pie or ice cream either) but this is the fudge equivalent of a Reece’s Cup. Even better the peanut butter fudge tastes like good peanut butter with a nice hit of salt.

Fuzzy Bubble:
Stepping away from the traditional fudge flavors we come to the Fuzzy Bubble which is a peach champagne fudge. This is a flavor combination I cannot believe I have not seen in a truffle. It’s a natural if you ask me. As a fudge I found it a bit overwhelming. Not bad, but strong. If you love peach then this may be more up your alley, but I’ll tend to try and share this piece of the selection out so I can focus on other flavors.

Island Retreat:
This is a coconut fudge and much more to my liking. You can smell the coconut in it as soon as you peel the wrap. It’s a pretty strong coconut flavor and at first seems almost too strong, but you are left with a mouthful of lovely perfect chocolate and coconut flavor.

Citrus Shot:
This time we get orange and just the right amount. The coconut was a hair strong for me but this was just right as far as my tastes go. I like a nice balance between the chocolate and whatever flavor is in with it and this hits my sweet spot. Your mileage may vary depending on how you feel about citrus in your chocolate.

Wake-Up Call:
Espresso! A pretty nice combination of coffee and chocolate. It’s got a nice deep coffee flavor but doesn’t stike me as being quite as strong as espresso. That said, I sometimes find espresso a little much and this works just fine for me so again, your mileage may vary. Those expecting the strength of espresso might be a little let down, but to me it has a wonderful deep coffee flavor that is nicely balanced to the chocolate.

Toffee Crunch:
This was pretty nice. A nice fudge with sweet and salty toffee running through it. I’m not a huge toffee fan but this works quite nicely for me. Very very nice.

Berry Nuts:
As usual it’s the raspberries that get me. Berry Nuts has raspberry and walnuts in lovely fudge and it’s really nice. Very good. I love walnuts and I love raspberry and I love fudge, especially with nuts in it so this is the no-brainer of the bunch.

If I had to sum up Flippin’ Fudge in a single word that word would be “fun.” Their website and the products are all bright and colorful and dripping with fun. When you get a package from Flippin’ Fudge it is a good and exciting thing. It’s certainly a gift you’ll remember. It’s good stuff and I’m calling it an 8 out of 10.

The bottom line is that they have a good fun product on their hands and hopefully a bright future. Stop by their site and take a look around. Be sure to check out the about page – it’s a good read and gives the story behind the name.

Alternate Takes:
Candy Blog
Candy Yum Yum!